These days, the wickham factory is at full capacity, and the cotton cloth production is almost full. Now that the negative effects of the economic crisis have not subsided, the domestic consumer goods market is very weak, and the export market is monopolized by other cotton mills, it will be difficult for Wickham to get a piece of the pie.

So from the beginning, Wickham did not pin his hopes on the civilian market, but set his sights on the booming military supplies market. Britain began to feel deep anxiety about the French Revolutionary Army, which was becoming more and more courageous, and since the declaration of war on France this year, the large-scale expansion of the army has not stopped. The British War Office not only plans to fill the shortfall of the infantry regiments, but also prepares to form a second-line force in the counties to defend the localities, the militia regiments, and the total number will likely reach an unprecedented number of dozens of regiments!

The formation of these units requires not only a large number of guns and ammunition, but also hundreds of thousands of sets of military uniforms, shoes and hats. Moreover, the European armies of this era did not have the concept of separating the regular uniforms, combat uniforms and training uniforms in the military uniforms, and they wore a set of military uniforms for training in peacetime and the same set of military uniforms for combat, which was quite a loss of military uniforms.

According to statistics, during the Napoleonic Wars, the French army had to change a set of military uniforms in less than three months during the war, and the wear and tear of military uniforms during continuous combat was even greater! Moreover, the military uniforms of this era were extremely well made, and the cost was very huge, and it is said that the French army spent more on the purchase of military uniforms than on the purchase of weapons and ammunition!

This time the British Army has expanded its troops, and the purchase of military uniforms alone is a big business. Wickham himself is also the auditor of the Quartermaster Division of the War Department, and he is really stupid if such a fat difference is not cheap. Without further ado, Wickham took Ruhr straight to the War Department, wanting to use his status as an insider to grab the big deal.

After arriving at the War Department, Wickham wanted to ask Stoke Mister, the clerk of Lord Claes, the Comptroller of the Quartermaster's Office, to see if he could get through Lord Claes and get a large order for the cotton cloth needed to make military uniforms.

Arriving at the door of the Comptroller's office, Wickham first asked Ruhr to wait outside the door. Then Wickham looked at the time of his pocket watch, and knew that Mr. Stoke Mister was still reviewing documents at this time, so he pushed the door straight in.

"Who are you, who let you in!" Looking at the fat old man in front of him, Wickham suddenly couldn't figure out the situation, shouldn't Mr. Mister be in the office at this time, where did this fat old man Nima come from. The fat old man sat on the throne in such a big way, and there was a middle-aged gentleman beside him, who seemed to be talking about something.

Before Wickham could explain, the fat old man roared with a mean face: "What the hell are those damn guards at the mouth of the army department doing, how can they just let unknown people in!" Tomorrow, I will send all the guards who have neglected their duties to a court-martial. Damn it...... How the hell did you get in? ”

Wickham didn't expect this fat old man to scold people like an old woman chattering, and only when the fat old man finished speaking, did he say indifferently: "I am Major Wickham, the auditor of the Quartermaster Division of the War Department, and I have to ask Mr. Why are you in the Comptroller's office?" Could it be that you were a spy sent by the French to come to the Comptroller's office to steal important documents? After saying that, Wickham also put his hand on the hilt of his saber and made a gesture that he would draw his sword at the slightest disagreement.

In fact, Wickham has already guessed the identity of the fat old man, and this old man is probably Lord Clais, the comptroller who has never seen the dragon. However, Wickham didn't have a good impression of this somewhat mean fat old man, so he deliberately pretended not to know his identity, in order to suppress the old man's aggressive attitude.

When the old man saw Wickham's hand pressed on the hilt of his sword, he immediately became angry, and jumped to his feet and said, "My God, Major Wickham, you are an idiot!" I am Lord Claes, the Comptroller General of the Quartermaster Service, and you broke into my office without knocking, and I want to dismiss you from your duties as a rude fellow......"

Wickham was originally a young man, and when he was scolded by the fat old man, the anger in his heart came up at once, so he said softly or hardly: "Your Excellency Lord Claes, I am sorry for my rude behavior just now. Moreover, my letter of appointment has been issued by the Privy Council, and has been personally confirmed by the Secretary of State for War, and the matter of dismissal may be nothing more than the Lord can do so. ”

"You ......," Lord Claes slapped on the table, and then miraculously suppressed his anger and said to Wickham, "Mr. Major, please get out of my office, you are not welcome here!" ”

It was really cool to slap the old man in the face just now, but it was only after the cool that Wickham reacted, and his purpose today was to win the cotton order needed to make military uniforms. Now that he has offended Lord Claes, who is in charge of the army's quartermasters, he has offended him miserably, and this quartermaster cake is nine out of ten.

After Wickham came out of the Comptroller's office, Lord Claes said to the middle-aged gentleman next to him with some apologies: "Mr. Wicks, I'm really sorry for letting you see this. I did not expect that when the Quartermaster Service under my command would infiltrate such a vulgar and impertinent subordinate of very questionable moral character, I would definitely explain the situation to the Minister of War and remove this kind of kingdom moth from our War Department. ”

The middle-aged gentleman named Wicks nodded perfunctorily, and his tone seemed to comfort Lord Claes: "The people who serve in the War Department are gentlemen of high moral character, and there is really no need for such a person who has no reverence for his superiors to continue to exist in the War Department. ”

"You are so right, Mr. Wicks, that the young people of these days have fallen into disbelief in God, and have no love for the kingdom, and they have abandoned the moral code of which the English gentlemen are most proud, and have made a mess of the whole country. Oh, it's all terrible......" Lord Claes' bad mood was better when someone responded to his broken thoughts.

Wicks twitched his eyes, and there was a hint of disdain in his eyes, for no one knew better than he that the Lord in front of him, who seemed to be a moralist, was in fact just an insatiable and shameless man who had to deal with military supplies. But it is precisely because of the existence of such shameless people that factory owners like him can usurp the maximum profits.

This Mr. Wicks obviously has no interest in accompanying this old scumbag to discuss moral issues, and he is most concerned about how much profit he can make in this business: "Your Excellency Lord Claes, please leave it to you for the purchase of cotton cloth needed for the production of army uniforms this time." If the War Office finalizes the use of cotton cloth produced in our factory, I will certainly duly express my gratitude to His Excellency the Lord. ”

Lord Claes pondered for a while, then said with a look of embarrassment, "Mr. Wicks, you have always been my old friend, and we have always had a good foundation for cooperation. But you also know how huge the military uniforms needed by the War Department this time, and the fabrics needed to make 100,000 sets of military uniforms in advance, although the scale of your factory is not small, it may be difficult to eat these orders in one go. Moreover, the economic situation in England as a whole is not good at the moment, and many of the owners of textile mills have been to the War Office several times, and there is even a friend of the Lord Charles Jenkinson, Secretary of State for Commerce, who is not very easy to do......"

"Pretend, you keep pretending!" Wicks sneered in his heart, and despised the old fellow even more, but there was a smile on his face: "Your Excellency, you also know that I have been looking for a reliable partner to participate in my factory for some time, and now I feel that I already know who this reliable partner is. As long as you can help me get this order, I am willing to give you five percent of the shares of my factory at a price of one pound. ”

The total assets of the textile mill under the name of Wicks are 400,000 pounds, to say the least, and 5% of the shares are 20,000 pounds! And Claes only needs to hand over all the orders to the Wicks family, so 20,000 pounds is equivalent to giving Wicks for nothing! And this time, in order to get a large military order from the War Department, Wicks could only grit his teeth to satisfy Lord Claes, an insatiable old thing.

Lord Claes felt that his throat was a little dry, he didn't expect Weeks to be so willing to pay for this large military order! That's £20,000, the largest single bribe he's ever received. When he got the position of Comptroller General of the Quartermaster Department, he spent a total of about 30,000 pounds, and as long as he did this vote, the cost of his official position could basically be recouped. And that so-called friend of the business secretary Charles Jenkinson was just made up by him to scare Wicks......

Lord Claes laughed: "Mr. Wicks, you are too polite, but don't worry, our family also used to run a textile factory, and I am confident that I can become the credible partner that Mr. Wicks said, haha......"

Wicks glanced at the happy Lord Claes with disdain, and gained a deeper understanding of the shamelessness of this old thing. The old guy's family did run a textile factory, but it closed down a long time ago, and he was too embarrassed to talk about it. Although it was a little painful for 10% of the shares, Wicks deeply understood that if he wanted to get it, he had to pay first, and when he got the War Office's military quartermaster order, 20,000 pounds was nothing at all.

"Welcome to our Wicks family's textile mill, Lord Claes......" With that, the two old foxes, each with their own intentions, clasped their hands tightly together.

And here Wickham came out of the Comptroller's office, and he also regretted a little regret that he had just stiffened the relationship with Lord Claes, who was in charge of the Quartermaster Department, to the point of leaving no room for error. It's just that when he thinks of Lord Claes's tone of clamoring for dismissal, he has a burst of fire in his heart, he doesn't believe that without the support of the Comptroller, he Wickham can't get this batch of orders, and it's a big deal to move out the great god Prince Frederick at that time, which can be regarded as a favor for himself to give him ideas several times.

Arriving at the door of the Comptroller's office, Wickham suddenly noticed that the clerk who was acting for him, Chris Mister, the Mister family had a tradition of acting for people in the War Department, and perhaps his clerk knew something about Lord Claes, so that he could know himself and his enemy.

With that in mind, Wickham walked into his office with his legs up, and then cautiously locked the door. Chris Mister was not surprised to see that it was Wickham, but stood up politely and said, "Mr. Wickham, it is a great pleasure to meet you again, is there anything you need me to do?" ”

Although Chris Mister was Wickham's substitute clerk, he actually had very little to do, as the Comptroller was an idle job with little real business. Especially in this period of time, Wickham has hardly been seen at the War Department, which makes Chris Mister, who is bent on getting close to Wickham, feel like he has no idea what to do.

Despite Chris Mister's apparent indifference, he is more unsettled than anyone else, he wants to get ahead, and he wants to get back all the humiliation he suffered on the stock exchange. By the time Wickham stepped into the office again, Chris Mister knew his chance was in front of him!

Considering that Lord Claes was still next door, Wickham lowered his voice and said, "Don't be so polite, Mr. Mister. I have only come to ask you, how much do you know about Lord Claes, Comptroller General of our Quartermaster Service? ”

"Lord Claes?" Chris Mister gave a playful smile and said slowly, "He's just a stupid pig with arrogance and greed." ”